Pages

Sunday, 24 June 2012

Men with foreskins chased by mobs with knives

Uncircumcised men are being chased
through the streets naked by knife wielding gangs intent on cutting off their
foreskins according to reports from Uganda.

A misguided
campaign aimed at reducing HIV transmission through mass circumcision has gone
badly wrong in Uganda with knife wielding gangs chasing
uncircumcised through the streets intent on cutting off their foreskins.

More than 200 men have been
attacked; 2 have come close to death; police have used tear gas to disperse
gangs; terrified men are rushing into hospital to have emergency circumcisions
to avoid being violently attacked for having a foreskin and surgeons have been
arrested and charged with assault.

The Africa Report carries a shocking story of one naked victim being chased through the streets of Mbale in Uganda
by a gang of more than 50 and a scalpel wielding surgeon. The man sought
sanctuary in the Resident District Administrators office where guards fought
off the assailants.

Other men have not been so lucky. According
to a report in The Atlantic Wire more than 40 men have been subjected to forced circumcision in two days due to a "disturbing mix of cultural and science-based values". The men
who fell prey to the forced circumcision campaign were targeted because their
wives or girlfriends were part of the Bamasaba tribe, which prescribes
circumcision to all males from the age of 15

"We are helping those who
feared getting circumcised through cultural processes," said program
leader Badru Wasike, who told Africa Report that it was a cultural and
health exercise. "We are aware that circumcised men do not easily get
infected with HIV/AIDS. Since they love our relatives we want them to be
safe."

It is estimated that a
total number of about 220 people have been circumcised from the time the
exercise began. Dr. Jaffer Balyejjusa a senior Consultant surgeon at Mbale
regional Referral Hospital has condemned the act of forceful circumcision. He said
that so far they have received two cases where the victims had been circumcised
badly putting lives in danger.

The Ugandan Observer newspaper reports that business in Mbale was
paralysed when unruly youth stormed the streets and began
indiscriminately circumcising anyone they came across.

Many businessmen of
different ethnicities, that do not practise circumcision, locked their shops
and fled. Those captured yelled in pain as they were circumcised in front of
onlookers in the suburbs where different ethnic groups reside or do businesses.

Police engaged in a
hide-and-seek game with errant youth and used tear gas to disperse crowds and
three traditional surgeons involved in this operation have been arrested and
face charges of forcefully inflicting harm on their victims.

At least 46 men between
the ages of 30 to 70 rushed to Mbale referral hospital to be circumcised to
avoid having their genitals mutilated by angry mobs.

Police Commander Micahel
Ongica said.

“Some members of the
business community have come to us seeking security because these hooligans are
attacking anyone they presume uncircumcised. We shall arrest and prosecute
anyone found loitering in town looking to destabilize peace in the name of
circumcision”

Human
rights activist Keneth Mabonga told The Africa Report "Men
were told to unzip on the streets to ascertain whether they had been
circumcised. That is not only unfair but also inhuman."

"Tales of the brutal arrests and
forceful circumcision the men go through are rife, but somehow they never
receive that much attention. It is hard for society to
fathom that the macho men can be on the receiving end of physical and verbal
attacks, particularly in the private arena where they rule as kings. Sexual and
gender-based violence campaigns almost always focus on women as victims and the
men only feature as perpetrators."

Some cultural leaders condemned the act. John Musila, a spokesman for the Bamasaba tribe said:

"We as Bamasaba
condemn indiscriminate cutting of non-Bagisu. In our culture, non-Bamasaba
cannot be forced into circumcision unless they accept on their own. Those
forcing non-Bamasaba into circumcision should not be associated with our
culture and those doing it, should be cautioned"

2 comments:

The money spent on their fraudulent circumcision trial in Uganda and follow-up marketing campaign should have instead gone to education campaigns designed to do away with harmful traditional practices like forced genital cutting.